Prologue

Time is standing still, my life is about to end and I realize this. It doesn't scare me, I knew when I first became a Ranger that my life would be short. Hell, I've made it a lot longer in this world than I ever expected to. I will be leaving this life with only one regret. Not telling her that I love her. That she is the only one, has always been the only one. Had things been different she would have always been the only one. If I were to live a hundred years she would always be My Babe.

I never expected that a Jersey girl from the Burg would be my weakness. I remember watching her walk into the cafe for our meeting. Connie had called in a marker and she wanted me to train this woman, make her a badass apprehension agent. Had I not owed Connie I would have turned her down. As a general rule I don't train people. My men all have previous experience. Most of my men were in one branch or another of the military, all with special forces experience. Those who weren't in the military had experience with the life of hard knocks.

I remember her eyes the first time I saw them, the punch in the gut I had when she walked over to me ignoring the nerves I could see running across her face. She was terrified, but was pushing forward. She sat across from me and didn't ogle me like so many other females would. She didn't flirt, she didn't try for seduction. She just sat there and looked me in the eye, never wavering while I explained how it was going to work. What I expected of her, what she needed to expect from the job.

I didn't realize it at the time, but I do now. She knocked me out that day. I was done. I never had a chance. The second I saw her my world was over. She was my destiny, the one thing that had been missing from my life, the one thing I hadn't realized was missing from my life.

Everyday I showed her how I felt, what she meant to me. Every time she called I was there, every time Morelli or her mother broke her spirit I was there to hold her together. To give her strength. Every time she blew up a car, or broke one of my men I was there. Yet, for all that I'd done for her, for all that I'd shown her, for all that I'd given her I never once allowed myself to give her the one thing she never asked for but always deserved. The three little words that I have never said to anyone. Three little words that were in her eyes every time she looked at me. Three little words that were locked inside my heart screaming to get out. Three little words that I will never get the chance to say.

I watch as the man caresses the trigger of his semi-automatic. He has it pointed at my head and I know that there is no chance I am going to make it out of here. I want my last thoughts to be of Stephanie. I hope that she will find happiness in her life. I want nothing more than for her to go on with her life, to live and to dream, to succeed.

Out of the corner of my eye I see a movement. I can't take the chance to look, I realize I am hallucinating. The beatings I've incurred in the last forty-eight hours along with the dehydration and the sleep deprivation are making my mind play tricks on me. At least the tricks are good. I get to see her one more time. I get to die looking at her.

All of this is happening in seconds. The man pulls the trigger and I hear the sound of gun shots at the same time I hear her voice scream my name.

"Ranger!"

I feel the impact like a freight train hitting and I'm thrown across the room. I look down my body and there she is. Death isn't so bad if she is with me.

Then I notice it. Her eyes. There are tears in them, and her breath is coming in short, labored gasps. My eyes trail down her body and I see the blood spreading across her shirt. Shit! I'm not dead.

"Babe."

"Ranger..." her voice trails off. She's losing consciousness, but she's fighting it.

"Babe, hang on. You've got to hang on."

"See.... I told you.... I could....save....you."

I hear the sirens and they are close. Rangeman must have been tracking her. Thank God. Just hurry, please hurry. They had to get in here. I press my hands over the wound in her chest trying to slow the bleeding. There is so much blood. Her black Rangeman shirt is soaked through and my hands are covered in her blood.

"Shhhh," I say. "Don't talk. Save your energy, Babe."

"It's cold, Ranger. I'm.....sorry....I....took so.....long."

I watch as her eyes slide closed. I hear the voices of the paramedics as they run through the room, but I'm not paying attention. I feel her go limp in my arms.

"Babe! Babe... wake up! Come on Babe, wake up. Stay with me. Please. Stay with me... I love you, Stephanie, but Babe, you've got to fight. Please fight. Don't leave me. Please."